This post was sponsored by Home Depot. All opinions are mine.
“Please excuse the mess!” If I had a dollar for every time I have said that… I’d have a lot of dollars.
Raise your hand if it stresses you out when you know people are coming over? As much as I would love to be someone who was so chill that I didn’t care if I had guests in a messy house, I am not that person. It makes me much happier to entertain in a comfortable and clean environment. Since the holidays are upon us, my wheels are already turning about dinners, parties, and decking the halls. I may or may not already be decorated for Christmas, but that’s neither here nor there.
The biggest issue is that I have three kids and sometimes guests are not always planned far in advance. I wind up having to rush to get the bare minimum done more often than not. Here is my lazy mom’s guide on how to skate by when tidying up. Spoiler alert, you can fake some of this.
1| FLOORS
If you don’t have time for some of this, you can get by, but I feel like floors are so important! When I go to someone’s house if there are crumbs or dirt or spills on the floor my eyes go to it immediately, it just gives an overall feel like the house is dirty. Clean floors just feel so much better! I’ve been trying out this new Professional Series ONEPWR FloorMate JET Hard Floor Cleaner by Hoover.
It’s exclusively available at Home Depot and is the real domestic MVP. It’s cordless, vacuums WHILE washing, cleans multiple hard surfaces, and can even be used on area rugs. It has a micro-fiber brush roll that helps to loosen debris and lightly “scrub” the surface.
I’m highly impressed with the level of suction. The SprayClean™ nozzle and trigger system allows easy control of the cleaning solution when you need it. The best part- it’s super easy to clean up with the included Rinse & Storage tray. Again, it’s only available at Home Depot!
2 | Clutter
Hide the things! Now is not the time to perfectly organized, now is the time to get clutter out of sight. For now, stash stuff in closets or drawers. You can figure the rest out later.
3 | Dishes
Nothing draws more attention than dishes in the sink. Dirty dish piles stick out like a sore thumb. Dishes must be taken care of, even if you were hiding all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher until later.
4 | Surfaces
Clean the surfaces. If you have little kids, you can bet there are sticky fingerprints and maybe crayon muraks on at least 50% of the surfaces in your home. That will be one of the first places guests look, or set their drink. Cannot skimp.
5 | Do the least!
Only worry about the areas your guests will be in. If it is just a dinner party in your common spaces, don’t waste time in the bedrooms. In that case, I usually just make sure the guest bathroom is perfect and prepped and the rest can wait.
6 | First Impression
First impressions are everything! If your entryway is welcoming and cozy, your guests will remember that. Light a candle and cozy it up with decor.
If you can do those things, you will truly have a perfect spot to host guests. It’s all you need to do in a pinch! What would you add or subtract from these tips?
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